In order to combat unauthorized copying, redistribution, and/or other types of piracy of video content that they distribute, content distribution networks may employ watermarking techniques. Generally speaking, such techniques involve embedding information into distributed video content. More particularly, some conventional watermarking techniques involve embedding information by modifying image data associated with the video content such that the modifications convey information according to a defined scheme but are not readily discernable by content consumers.
Although such watermarks may not be readily discernable by content consumers, they may still be vulnerable to various types of attacks, such as downsampling, downscaling, and/or transcoding, which are designed to remove watermarks or render them unrecognizable. Watermarking techniques that are more resistant to such attacks than conventional techniques may be desirable. Additionally, there may be significant processing and/or communications overhead associated with watermarking according to conventional techniques, especially those that involve the application of fingerprints or other types of unique watermarks. Watermarking techniques that involve reduced amounts of processing and/or communications overhead may also be desirable.